


Friends With Benefits

by eternalbane



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Implied/Referenced Sex, Jealous Alec Lightwood, Jealousy, M/M, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 11:57:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16764679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalbane/pseuds/eternalbane
Summary: Alec and Magnus are friends with benefits. No more, no less. Or at least that's what they thought.





	Friends With Benefits

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by another fanfic I read a few years ago. Credit goes to the original author.

No strings attached.

Friends with benefits.

That was all it was. Easy enough. Simple and easy.

And these were the two words Alec constantly reminded himself, each time he watched Magnus climbed out of the bed to pull his clothes back on. And each time Alec longed to pull the shorter man back into bed with him, to stay with him, to never leave him. He wished it was easy and simple, but it was Magnus, which meant it would never be easy, nor simple. In fact it was the complete opposite, which was what hurt Alec the most.

It had started off easy and simple though.

It had started one very drunken night. Both Alec and Magnus were at Magnus' apartment, drunk and alone, desperate for each other. But the next morning when they lay next to each other, as they nursed their hangovers, they were reminded of the pleasure they had experienced and what it could lead to.

Neither of them wanted a relationship, not in the beginning at least, as both didn't want to let go of the friendship they had between each other already. But they also didn't want to let go of what happened between them the night prior.

And so they decided to continue it, but remain friends. It was simple enough. Right?

"We'll be friends with benefits" Magnus had said to Alec that morning, watching the other male struggle with his hangover. "Easy enough right?"

"Right" Alec nodded in agreement, the plan sounding brilliant at the time. Especially since Magnus had been sitting there shirtless, in the same bed as Alec, with the memories of the night before scattered across his neck, watching the younger male with a glint in his soft brown eyes.

"Want to start now" Magnus asked, looking the other male up and down.

"Gods yes" Alec replied instantly, practically jumping onto Magnus, crashing their lips together passionately and wrapping his arms around the older male's body.

Now, many, many months later, eight to be exact, Alec was starting to wonder if perhaps the plan hadn't been that smart. And that he was starting to regret the whole decision.

The sex was still great, obviously, and if anything it had only gotten better as they had learned each other's bodies, now knowing what they both liked and what drove them crazy. But now there was one small problem.

Alec had developed some small feelings for Magnus. Okay not small, but you get the point.

And at this point he was sitting across from the older male, listening to him go on about the girl he had started seeing, which drove Alec crazy.

"This means we'll have to stop though" Magnus said to Alec, who had zoned back in on their conversation. "I don't want to cheat on her, you know?"

"I understand" He nodded, trying to ignore the jealousy that burned through his veins "So you really like her, huh?"

"I do" Magnus grinned "She's great, I'm taking her out tonight"

"Oh, where to?" Alec asked, sitting back against the leather of the couch as he listened to Magnus ramble on about where he was going to take his date and what they were going to do, while continuing to ignore the burning sensation in his chest.

Was he jealous? No, okay maybe. But he didn't understand how he could be. There was nothing to be jealous of.

He and Magnus were just friends with benefits. That was is, that was all it was ever going to be, especially since Magnus' new girlfriend was now in the picture.

And so what if he had some feelings, there was nothing he could do about them but they would be easy to ignore. Alec could simply brush them away, because this thing between him and Magnus had been no strings attached, nothing more, nothing less. Plus, they had ended it.

Simple and easy.

Yet it wasn't simple and easy. It never was.

Alec had found it become more difficult to be around Magnus because he was constantly talking about the girl he was seeing. She had even made an appearance at some of the dinners they had with everyone. And tonight was no exception of that.

Alec couldn't remember her name, mostly because he didn't care enough, but she talked a lot. And flirted with every male at the table. Except for Alec, which he wasn't too fazed about. He couldn't take his eyes off of Magnus, who slung an arm around his girlfriend, the same way he used to with Alec each morning. He felt the jealousy continue to rise and he felt sick to his stomach. 

He hated that he still felt jealous, months after they put an end to their relationship, or whatever it was, because it was clear that Magnus was happy. Which should've made Alec happy, he wanted his friend to be happy after all. 

But there was a small voice inside of him which reminded him that he didn't want Magnus to be happy with someone else, but with him. Alec hated that voice.

Eventually he had to step away, quickly followed by his sister Izzy, who suspected everything.

She had known about their relationship from the beginning and had told Alec multiple times that it was a bad idea, and that it wasn't going to end well for him. But obviously Alec didn't listen, because, again, it was Magnus, and nothing was simple and easy about Magnus.

"Alec you need to stop feeling this way" Izzy said, leaning up against the wall. "I know this hurts, but whatever you guys had wasn't going to last forever."

"Izzy, I can't go on like this, I can't be here anymore" Alec said, and with that, he left, going back to his apartment and locking himself away from everyone else.

* * *

After that Alec started distancing himself from Magnus, figuring that it would help and that maybe after some time apart, the memory of Magnus and their past would disappear. And that he wouldn't wake up gasping the other male's name. Or that maybe the feelings he had developed would fade away.

Needless to say, they didn't because with Magnus, things weren't easy and simple.

Alec's plan failed miserably. The only thing it did was leave him lonely and missing Magnus, who was apparently too busy with his new girlfriend to notice that his best friend had disappeared from his life.

A small part of Alec wished that he could go back to the first morning they slept together, and tell Magnus no when he suggested the idea, that being friends with benefits wouldn't be smart. That their hook up was a one time thing, no more, no less. Yet a bigger part inside of him was against him ever having those moments taken away from him, he moments he treasured dearly. Even if he wanted more of them.

Today was another night that he was sat at home, after refusing an invitation to go out for dinner with his sister and the rest of their friends, almost certain that Magnus would be with there with his girlfriend. And Alec didn't want to see that.

So when the door buzzer went off, he got a bit of a shock.

Padding barefoot across the wooden floors of his empty apartment, he felt his breath catch at the sight of Magnus in the small screen.

He stood for a while, debating on answering the door or pretending he wasn't home, while he watched the older male type out a quick message, Alec's own phone buzzing in his hand a few seconds later.

_I know you're home, let me in._

Swallowing, Alec hit the button to buzz Magnus into the apartment building, watching him disappear from the screen.

Unsure what to do, and knowing perfectly well that he was fucked, Alec paced along the floor as he waited for Magnus to arrive at his door. He ran a hand through his hair roughly and watched his hand shake, along with the rest of his body, the nerves finally kicking in.

"Alec?!" Magnus called out angrily, the door quickly slamming shut behind him as he stormed inside, staring Alec down. "What the fuck?!"

Blinking in surprise at the sudden outburst from his ex-lover, Alec stood in shock in the middle of the room, unable to respond.

"You asshole!"

"Me?"

"Yes, you!" Magnus snapped, stepping closer to the younger male "You said you were fine with it!"

"Fine with what?!" Alec snapped back, confusion laced through his words as he felt the anger pulse through his body.

"With _this_ " Magnus waved a hand between them "With what we had!"

"And I was!"

"Then why the hell have you suddenly disappeared!"

"Because you got a girlfriend, you idiot!" Alec's anger surging through his body, fuelled by the jealousy that filled his chest. "And I didn't want to watch you parade around with her when I wanted it to be me!"

"I only asked her out because I thought we were nothing more than friends!" Magnus growled back, looking the younger man up and down.

"We were fucking, Magnus! Practically every night" Alec spat "I think we passed the whole friends with benefits stage!"

"Then why didn't you tell me something sooner?" Magnus asked, his voice softening "I wouldn't have asked her out"

"You were the one who started this" Alec wasn't done "You were the one who said it would be simple and easy!"

"Yeah, well it stopped being simple and easy when I fell in love with you-" Magnus said as he stepped closer to the other male, his words surprising Alec.

"You.. you what?"

"But I figured you didn't feel the same way as I did, and so I asked her out, thinking it would help me get over you. Then suddenly you've disappeared and I'm left thinking I've fucked this whole thing up, everything we ever had. I never wanted to lose you Alexander" Magnus said, his tone soft as he continued to step closer to the still shocked man "I wanted us to be more than friends with benefits"

"We're really shit at communicating, aren't we" Alec asked weakly, looking at the older male.

"Apparently, since we could have still been together this whole time" Magnus smiled, lacing his fingers together with Alec's. 

Alec grabbed the front of Magnus' shirt and pulled him in for a long overdue and heated kiss.

They had a lot of lost time to make up for.

And needless to say, that night was the best Alec had slept in months.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments always appreciated.


End file.
